Photo: Francis Hannaway · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.9%
41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership (England’s towns: 44%). At the 2021 Census, 4,843 people lived in Bowburn, in 2,218 households. On the census count, just over a fifth of households have no car or van. One-person households are more common here than in just over three quarters of UK towns.
What the Census says about Bowburn’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Bowburn’s residents are under 38.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 9.6% are 15 to 24 and 16% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Younger than 88% of UK towns: half of Bowburn is under 38.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 16% here and 18% across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 9.6%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bowburn, 38.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A student town: 5.9% of adults study full-time
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 31% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 28% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year account for 9.4%. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 85% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against County Durham’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Households with dependent children make up 27%, against 29% across England’s towns. On the census count, 2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More households in terraced houses than 81% of UK towns: 29%
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Households in detached houses: 19% here and 21% across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
96% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 72% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.4%). 7.6% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 61% of UK towns. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Where just over a fifth of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 33%.
Bowburn sits below 57% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (91%)
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 91% of Bowburn · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Bowburn, 50% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (3.2%), African (1.3%) and Mixed or multiple (1.2%). At 42%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in 55% of UK towns.
39% of adults have never married, more than in 87% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
133 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are scarce here: 9.1%, fewer than in 58% of UK towns.
34% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 34% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
Among 810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people, the 68th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Bailrigg (18.9) and the oldest Barton on Sea (65.3). Nearest to Bowburn in age: Papworth Everard (38.1), Stone Cross (38.1), Kirton (38.3) and Shiremoor (38.4).
Median age: 6 of the 7 towns around Bowburn are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “County Durham’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in County Durham (or England), summed the same way as Bowburn’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Bowburn’s residents
What is the population of Bowburn?
The 2021 Census counted 4,843 people in Bowburn’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bowburn?
The median age was 38.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 88% of UK towns. 9.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bowburn?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bowburn?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Bowburn good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bowburn’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.